The all new Formula One and its focus on energy management hybrids was apparently going along swimmingly – until Oliver Bearman’s 50g impact crash in Japan. The Haas driver on the electrical boost was unsighted through a high speed section of the iconic Suzuka circuit when he happened upon the Alpine of Franco Colapinto who was harvesting energy.
The closing speeds were enormous forcing Bearman to take evasive action, sending him off track and slamming into the barriers. The British driver limped away from the incident, but it was later confirmed he had no broken bones and just severe bruising. This has resulted in an urgent sit-down tomorrow between the FIA, senior F1 officials and the teams along with the manufacturers to address the dire straits F1 has now found itself in.
Yet this incident was predicted by the drivers but received a complacent response from the sport’s CEO Stefano Domenicali. “We need to avoid overreaction because it’s just the beginning of a new journey, so that’s why I say we need to stay calm,” he said.
F1 drivers visibly shocked
Yet many of the drivers were visibly shocked by the crash speaking publicly immediately after the race with many criticising the new F1 regulations heavily. Laid back Spaniard Carlos Sainz was particularly animated over the matter. “These kind of closing speeds and these kind of accidents were always going to happen, and I’m not very happy with what we’ve had up until now, and hopefully we come up with a better solution that doesn’t create these massive closing speeds and a safer way of going racing.”
For the third round of the year in the land of the rising sun, the FIA had tweaked the regulations for qualifying in an attempt to ensure more flat out laps were being delivered. The energy deployment allowance was reduced from 9kw to 8kw which did mitigate the spectacle to a certain degree.
Yet Sainz called on the F1 authorities to do more, claiming the regulations for racing were in need of urgent attention and not just for qualifying. “Yeah, that’s why I was so surprised when they said, ‘No, we will sort out qualifying and leave the racing alone, because it’s exciting’. As drivers, we’ve been extremely vocal that the problem is not only qualifying, it’s also racing, and we’ve been warning that this kind of accident was always going to happen.
“It was 50G I heard, which is higher than my crash in Russia in 2015, I was 46G. Just imagine what kind of crash you could have in Vegas, Baku, etc. I hope it serves as an example and the [FIA and FOM] listen to the drivers and not so much to the teams and people that said the racing was OK, because the racing is not OK.”
Complacency exposed at there top of F1
Yet it now emerges the FIA and CEO of F1 Stefano Domenicali had not intention of changing the regulations for racing until after the Hungarian Grand Prix which is half way through the 2026 season.
On this weeks Nailing the Apex podcast, veteran F1 journalist Julianne Cerasoli revealed that she had spoken in person to Domenicali and several of the senior FIA officials prior to the Japanese Grand Prix. The former Ferrari team boss and F1 supremo she claimed was bullish about the new regulations and saw no need for a ‘knee jerk’ reaction, preferring rather to wait for 11 race weekends before introducing any changes to the racing rules.
“I was talking to people from teams, and I spoke to Stefano (Domenicali), and spoke to the FIA. And they’re all saying, ‘No, the racing is fine. There are no issues with the racing. We are only going to address qualifying because qualifying is absolutely ridiculous. For racing, we just need people to be more adjusted to the regulations, and all the stuff that you’re seeing that maybe isn’t right,” reported Cerasoli.
She went on to claim that Domenicali’s opinion was much of the ‘yo-yo’ racing was down to the fact the teams and drivers had yet to learn how to fully optimise their cars. “Now, after what happened with Bearman, I think they will do something for Miami,” she claims.
FIA were fiddling while Rome burned
Further, Brazilian journalist did share that the FIA had done some provisional work on tweaking the regulations for the F1 races, looking at increasing harvesting limits and moderating deployment in an effort to prevent drivers from running out of electrical charge.
Yet CNN’s Nate Sanders claims the simulations around the FIA’s proposals made little or no improvement to the current situation. “That’s one thing they’ve been saying is, ‘We want to be able to control it all the way around the lap.’ But it wasn’t really designed for that. It wasn’t meant to be used as an ad nauseam thing.
“I’m right in saying that they’ve tried a few simulations of what you’ve mentioned, and it was really minimal gains at most places, if not no change at all,” Sanders concluded. The FIA is responsible for driver safety and whatever is discussed at tomorrow’s high profile meeting must result in some form of action for the up coming Miami Grand Prix.
Cutting the electrical output is the only real solution
The problem facing the FIA is that Miami is sprint weekend and there is just one hour of practice where the teams will be looking to set up their cars, rather than perform extensive race simulations for the FIA. So whatever their solutions it may see F1 going in blind, although a simple cut in the total amount of electrical power available to the drivers may be sufficient for that circuit layout.
A number of options have been discussed including raising the fuel rate to ensure the internal combustion engine (ICE) can drive the car whilst harvesting for the battery simultaneously. This would reduce the super clipping where the car runs out of electrical power along the straight and slows dramatically before the corner.
This happens because the ICE is then generating electricity rather than driving the rear wheels at full tilt. Another solution is to reduce the contribution of the batteries from their current 50/50 spit with the ICE. Cutting their electrical output to 30% would significantly reduce the drivers’ reliance on clever algorithms and trick driving to maximise harvesting and deployment.
Of course slashing the electrical output would go against the manufacturers wishes who pressed hard for maximum battery power, some even threatening to leave the sport unless their demands were met.
One of the most shocking revelations in Japan came from the current world champion Lando Norris, who claimed that his car took over control and overtook Lewis Hamilton without the proper driver input. This too is exceedingly dangerous and against the founding principles of F1 racing which states a driver must drive his car unaided.
Now the cars appear to be making decisions and driving themselves. The response of the F1 media will be fascinating, given to date many have lauded the new regulations and the “existing” racing it has brought about. Yet fake overtakes are the sugar rush of the moment and fans will soon tire of watching one car pass another only to be reposed after the next corner.
Bearman’s crash in Japan has certainly knocked the complacency out of F1’s senior figures whose stubborn attitude to the farcical happenings on track has been shocking.
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Last Updated on April 7 2026, 8:48 pm
Formula 1 team in crisis – Aston Martin’s 2026 Formula 1 campaign has quickly spiralled into turmoil, with the team facing mounting pressure on multiple fronts. What was supposed to be a season of progress has instead turned into a struggle for competitiveness, credibility and internal stability.
Ironically, the cancellation of the early-season races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia may have offered temporary relief. Fewer races meant fewer opportunities for the team to underperform on a global stage. However, behind the scenes, these lost weekends did little to address the deeper issues plaguing the team. If anything, they have only delayed an inevitable reckoning….. CONTINUE READING
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FOM will do NOTHING. Oh make no mistake there will be great waving of arms and loud proclamations however, at the end of the meetings nothing will have changed.
Your prediction was correct friend. Our recent article reviewing the April 9 meeting calls out the FIA for exactly your point